Observations on the Morphometric and Meristic Characters of Guinean Tilapia, Coptodon guineensis (Günther, 1892) (Family: Cichlidae) from the Buguma Creek and the New Calabar River in Nigeria

摘要

This research was conducted to study the morphological characteristics of Coptodon guineensis from brackish and fresh water habitats in Rivers State, Nigeria using morphometric measurements and meristic counts. A total of 200 specimens of Coptodon guineensis, (two groups of 100 each from two study sites) were examined and analyzed for morphometric differentiation. The results showed that almost all the values of the external morphometric parameters were higher in the New Calabar River population than those of the population from Buguma Creek. There were significant difference (p0.88) and moderate coefficient (0.56) with PD in the population of the New Calabar River, while the population of the Buguma Creek PD showed high coefficients of determination (0.62). The specimens investigated in this study reveal that the freshwater population could be phenotypically separable from the brackish water population.